When I met you
by devoted.disciple
Summary: Kanaya lives in a small town. She gets caught kissing Vriska and gets sent to Straight camp. Butn who is this dark stranger she meets there? Strong Rosemary, Humanstuck AU. Rated M for possible later Chapters.
1. Late Night Stroll

The night was late, and the streets of the sleepy small town, Cometville, were silent and empty. Only you roam them. The only sound is the eery clicking of your boots on the cobblestone road.

Your name is Kanaya Maryam, and you feel guilty.

The air around you is brisk, and you clutch your jacket about you against the spring breeze. Not that you need it. Your body is numb from the events of the day. It was only by force of habit that you grabbed it from the hook by the door as you silently snuck from the house you grew up in on Delila Lane. It was by force of habit that you found yourself sneaking out anyway, a habit you picked up to clear your head. Of late, you've found yourself sneaking out quite a bit.

And by force of habit, you find yourself outside of the Serket household right next to the church on Elm Street. You pretend not to notice the voices omitting from the open window, Vriska's clean, melodic voice barking at her mother's high pitched, rambling one. You decide to walk back up Elm Street toward Town Square to visit the book store. You know it is probably closed, but your best friend Karkat's older brother, Kankri, often keeps the lights on for you. You knock on the window. Kankri smiles warmly and strolls over to the door to let you in. You walk into the warmth of the store. It's calming, to be surrounded by the smell of paper and dust. You walk over to the counter and place your hands on the smooth surface. Kankri stands on the other side, pretending to be focused on the cash register. You sigh and chip away the green nail polish adorning your hands.

"What's bothering you, Kanie?" says Kankri. You start to say that you don't want to talk about it, but the words come out so quickly that you can barely hear yourself say them.

"I kissed Vriska today." Kankri raises his eyebrows.

"What's wrong with that?"

"Well... her mother caught us."

"Ah. Pastor Mum not too happy about that?"

"No," you say quickly. "No, she wasn't. She was so unhappy that she's shipping Vriska off to Gog knows where-" your voice catches, and you take a deep breath. "And she even convinced my mother to send me to a place called "Homosexuality Rehab Camp, Let's Put God's Will to Work" this summer. I don't understand." You hear hysteria creeping into your voice. You take another deep breath and repeat the same words Vriska whispered in her ear before you were caught, in the heat of the moment, and the moment was hot. "I love you, Kanaya." Yes, this had been muttered as you kissed Vriska's neck up and down, while you were both breathing heavily, and half naked, but it changed you. You felt whole, or at least for that shining second.

"Well, I'll miss you this summer, anyways." says Kankri. He reaches over and wipes a tear from your cheek you didn't realise was there.

"Thanks, Kankri." you say. You purchase three books about war and one about the life of Edgar Allan Poe and leave.

You decide that you won't waste a moment of the rest of this year. You vow to have fun, because otherwise, you may go to that place and come back far too different for anyone's taste.

However, that year, it didn't matter how many horror movies you watched with Terezi and Karkat, how many swim meets you went to for Feferi, how many photo shoots you went to for Equius. Summer comes all too quickly, and you find yourself packing books and clothes with Karkat, Kankri and Terezi in what seems like a heartbeat. You smile at their jokes and blush when the three present you with a huge bag filled to the brim with books, but your heart is slowly thumping in your chest and you can almost feel the bullet hitting you in the chest.

Long after Terezi, Kankri, and Karkat have gone and long after you have finished packing, you lie in bed, too numb to get up, too sad to try. You can't believe that your own mother would rather see you die inside than see you thrive. You can't believe that Porrim up and left without saying goodbye to you, leaving you with your mother.

The next morning, you dress and ready yourself as slowly as possible. You comb your short black hair and smooth the folds of your long red skirt.

Today is the day your life ends.


	2. An Interesting Train Ride

You sit on the bus, your fingers nervously playing with the fabric of your bright red skirt. you can't ever remember being to scared. You wonder if you'll come out of here a different person. You wonder if you won't. You consider falling asleep, or maybe reading on of your new books. You elect to read just as the compartment door slides open. A girl stands there. You feel your breath catch. She has pale blonde hair accessorized by a black headband, She wears black lipstick but nothing else on her face. She has a short sleeved tee shirt that shows off just a little too much cleavage for your taste and a short skirt that is just a little bit too tight...

You shake your head. No, Kanaya. Focus. Jesus Christ, you're not even there yet. Suddenly, you see a pale hand waving in front of your eyes. It the girl.

"Hello? Can I sit in here? Everywhere else is full."

"Oh, yeah, sure." you say shakily. She slides in and sits across from you. You smile a bit. "I'm Kanaya Maryam"

"Oh, Rose Lalonde." she sticks out her hand and you take it nervously. She shakes it a little. Her hand is soft and warm. She crosses her arms and stares out the window.

"So, where are you headed, Kanaya Maryam?" she asks. You feel compelled to lie, but the truth tumbles out like word vomit.

"Homosexuality Rehab Camp, Let's Put God's Will to Work." you say quickly. She turns her head toward you.  
"Really? Wow, that's where I'm going, too!" she leans forward towards you, cups her chin in her hands and rests her elbows on her knees. "We should be friends. It's never okay to be alone in such a place. Trust me, this is my third Straight Camp." she smiles softly. You feel a mixture of awe and nerves.

"Agreed." you say. She grins widely.

"Good." her fingers sneak to your knee and squeeze it softly. Your heart races. "I think we'll have lots of fun."

As the train ride progresses, you learn more about Rose Lalonde. Like her interest in grim book like yours.

"I'm reading Grimmore for like, the 60th time."

"I love that book!" you exclaim, and Rose smiles.

You also learn about her mild alcoholism.

"It's my mom's fault for being drunk all through my childhood."

Finally, you discuss Bram Stoker's _Dracula _and it's impact on modern Vampire themed literature (or lack thereof).

"Seriously, I'm pretty sure baseball is exactly what Stoker had in mind when he wrote the damn book. And sparkling in the sunlight? Are you kidding?" You vent this almost every time anyone brings up vampires. It's practically your mantra. Rose laughs.

"Agreed. A shitty series about co-dependent teenagers who date sparkly pedophillic baseball players is exactly what he was hoping society would gain from his book." she replies. You laugh.

The train pulls into the station. A large man clad in khaki stands waiting. He holds a sign reading, "Sinners". You point at him. Rose laughs.

"I'm guessing that's us." she says. You smile slyly. If liking Rose was a sin, you were definitely hellbound. And you didn't even care.


	3. Welcome to Homosexuality Rehab Camp

The first thing you understand when you get to Homosexuality Rehab Camp, Let's Put God's Will to Work, is that you are absolutely going through a phase.

"Homosexuality is a phase. You may think it ain't, but it is. Of course, it's Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve." the instructor, the same man who picked you up from the station, a man called Mr. Evan, looks pleased with himself at the pun. Rose rolls her eyes. You can feel her fingers tickling the palm of your hand as she clasps fingers with you.

"Now, how many of you think you're homosexual?" says Mr. Evan. Everyone in the room raises their hands. He shakes his head. "Well, we can cure you, that's for damn sure." he affirms, and then looks at his clipboard. He looks around the room. You grip Rose's hand tightly. She smiles.

"Let me tell you something. I once thought I was a homosexual. My momma sent me and my 'boyfriend'" He strongly finger-quotes here. You lightly laugh. "Here. And we were both cured. We both work here now, here he is, Mr. Jimmy." a slightly smaller man walks up front. He and Mr. Evan stand very close together. Rose giggles to herself. Their faces nearly touch.

"Hello, Jim." says Evan.

"Hi, Evan" says Jimmy.

"You want to hug?" says Evan.

"Sure, bro, let's have a man hug." says Jimmy. They hug, but their privates touch and it's just a little too long.

"There, see. Totally cured." says Evan unconvincingly. "Now, Imma show you to your rooms. Boys, this way, girls, follow my beautiful wife Delicia, also an alumni from here." Delicia nods, and motion for the you and girls to follow her. You make your way through a small patch of woods to find a large cabin in a clearing. You are thrust inside and ou and Rose, and all the others, gasp.

The walls are pink, the bedding is pink, the carpet, pink. Posters of kittens and "hot" stars from the 1980's litter the walls. Delicia beams.

"Did the room up myself. Look at River Phoenix in this pic, eh, girls? Isn't he just scrumptious?" she says, more unconvincingly than her husband. There's a halfhearted murmur of consent. She nods. "Well, I'll just leave you girls to unpack and have some girl talk. How bout them boys, eh?"

She walks from the room. You look at Rose and crack up. She laughs so hard she leans on you for support. All the others laugh too.

"Oh my Gog, the sexual tension between Jimmy and Evan, though!" shouts one of the girls as she unpacks. You smile.

"Hi, I'm Kanaya. And you could practically reach out and touch it, the air was so thick with it!" You exclaim. The other girl and Rose grin.

"Aradia." says the girl. You smile.

"Nice to meet you."

"Rose." says Rose, unpacking from the bed next to you.

"Nice to meet you." says Aradia. She inhales and keeps packing.

"So, you got anyone special back home?" you say, trying to break the silence.  
"No." says Aradia. "I'm asexual. But my dad can't quite..." she silences. You nod.

"Same with my mom. And Kanaya's. My Gog, she caught me at one orgy, and all of a sudden it's, 'You'll disappoint Jegus' this and 'Gog hates homosexuals' that." says Rose. The room is silent. "I'm totally kidding. No orgies for this girl. But... she did catch me kissing a girl."

The others slowly agree.

Suddenly, a bell rings.

"Oh, Dinner." says Rose. She drops her phone and grabs your hand. "Let's eat." she pulls you from the room.

Dinner is a buffet line. There's casserole and cookies.

"Thanks, I'm starving." says Rose to delicia as she serves her a big ladle full of casserole. "Last thing I ate was a huge mountain of pussy!" Delicia gasps and drops the ladle. Rose grabs a cookie and makes her way to the table, leaving you in stunned silence. You quickly thank Delicia and grab a cookie as you hurry to the table.

"What the fuck was that for?" you hiss. Rose smiles and wraps her arm around yours.

"You gotta shock them, sweetie. I got a whole clusterfuck of ideas. Just you watch." Rose says sweetly, and tucks into her casserole, leaving you to wonder if being her friend was such a good idea.


	4. The Waterfall

You lay in bed that night, watching Rose sleep. She looks so much more peaceful in her sleep. You just want to curl up and- stop. Jegus Christ. You want to go for a walk. So you slowly put on some shoes and excuse yourself to the bathroom. Little does anyone know that you're sneaking out the bathroom window.

You land softly on spongy soil and begin to make you way into the forest toward the river and the waterfall. You quickly begin breathing heavily as you make your way up toward the cascade of sheer white foamy water falling from the cliff above. You easily scale half of the cliff face and spot a small cave behind the rush of water. You smile. This will be the perfect place to go to clear your head, if it needs clearing.

You sit in the cave and watch the water rush down in front of you. It's so pretty. But the cave is chilly, and you want to turn back. Suddenly, you hear soft swearing and crumbling of rock. You frantically try and find a place to find when Rose's head pops up and her arms scramble for a handhold.

"Rose?" you gasp quietly. She nods.

"Shit oh, umm, this is embarrassing. Pull me up?" she says. You pull Rose into the cave. She dusts herself off and looks around.

"Now this, this is a place I could make out in." She says casually, throwing herself down onto the soil. You blush furiously. She grins. You curse yourself.

"Don't be nervous." she says. She beckons for you to join her on the ground. You do, and immediately begin fiddling with the fabric of your sweatshirt. She stops your hands with hers. Her eyes are violet in the broken moonlight shining through the waterfall. You can hear the water rushing (or is that blood through your ears?) as Rose leans in close to you. She smells like toothpaste and shampoo and cinnamon and a touch of alcohol. Her lips brush against yours. The cave doesn't feel so cold anymore. She tries to pull away, but you clamp your hands around her head and pull her in. The kiss becomes more heated. You can barely breathe. Rose laughs into your mouth.

"Easy Tiger." she says. She pulls away. "Do you want this?"

You think for a moment. Are you willing to break all the rules, all the walls, for her? A girl you just met? You feel responsible Kanaya leaning toward no. Of course not. Why in the hell would you? You've only just met her! But you feel yourself ignoring responsible Kanaya. She's a bitch. You nod at Rose.

"Yes." You say. Your voice sounds breathy and husky all at once.

"Well, who am I to refuse?" She says mischievously. In one swift blow, she tackles you and presses her lips against yours. You are very warm. So is she. Her fingers knot through your hair. You turn over so that you are on top. The moment grows hotter and hotter. You felt beautiful as she ran her fingers down your back. You felt wonderful. You felt electrified. You felt cosmic. You finally felt.


	5. Plans

Hey! Thanks to everyone who read this, and thanks for all the support! uvu I'm so happy that you enjoyed it. Keep reviewing!

The summer passes in a blissful haze. The days were spent doing colourless arts and crafts, going for Hikes, and praying.

"It's like they think we can pray the gay away!" says Aradia jokingly as you paint black and white self portraits. You smile.

"That's crazy!" you exclaim. Rose laughs as she paints two girls in a passionate kiss.

"Who'd have thought that such a place would try and pray the gay out of you?" she said. Delicia noticed Rose's painting and confiscated it immediately. Rose rolled her eyes and went back to picking the dirt out from under her nail with a painter's knife.

But the nights were your favorite. You and Rose snuck up to the cave behind the waterfall every night. You'd talk, and read, and yes, kiss. Sometimes you did a little more than kiss, yes. But for the most part you made plans.

"I want to travel, Kanaya." said Rose one night as she rested her head on your stomach. You sigh.

"I wish I could just leave. I'm almost 18... I guess I could after September 6..." you say. "Gosh could my birthday only be a month away? How did that happen?"

"Well, time flies when you're having fun," said Rose, shifting to be completely on top of you. Her face moves toward yours. You giggle as you share a comfortable kiss. "But seriously, Kanaya. I want to run away together."

"What?" you say, stopping. She stares.

"I- mean... If you want to..." she says, trailing off. You reassure her with a quick kiss.

"Rose Lalonde it would be my pleasure to run away with you." You say, fumbling with the hem of her shirt. She grins.

"I love you." she says between kisses. You smile into her mouth.

"I love you too."

And so the plan was made, and your path set. With Rose around, you didn't look into the future with dread. In fact, you were looking forward to it.


End file.
